Between Family and Honour
Author's note: This is my interpretation of Major Wallis and how he became a Ace Gear Pilot. If you are unimpressed with my work then I apologise heaps if the story doesn't meet the correct life that Wallis went through or what you perceived of him. But either way I really hope you enjoy it! ( Please give feedback!)
Major Wallis looked through the window portal overlooking the village just outside Valeria, a large property covered mostly by woods and a lake near the front of the mansion. He could feel the humming of the Orca's engines and the caressing batter of the wind on the craft's hull as it soared over the area coming in range of landing. Twenty-two years had passed since he had left his home and joined the northern army then decided to become a duellist and held nine grand years as the official heavy gear champion. Now, after a year passed his fame became nothing more than humiliation after Marcus defeated him and became the new champion. It seemed that Wallis had taken every measure to regain his title and his heart could only see revenge in his eyes and mostly affected was his pride and honour, which had been crippled by his change in personality. He closed his eyes for only a moment and an image appeared in his mind.
***
"You promise to do that for me?" the young woman asked looking over at him.
"Yes with all my heart I'll do it for you, but it seems more like a dream than anything else to accomplish," he replied sitting by the young woman on top of a cliff looking out at the sunset beginning to die away.
"Oh, how so?" the woman asked and laid her hand on his shoulder.
"It's...complicated. I've got my honour, and my parents and my military duty but on the other I have you and a dream," he explained holding out his hands as if trying to explain to her what he meant.
She leant next to him and kissed him softly on his cheek.
"Don't worry, life is hard sometimes but a person has to fight for a dream and nothing can stop him or her from accomplishing it if they fight hard and logically," she whispered in his ear.
They watched the sun flitter against the clouds as the sun broke out of its setting and moved ever slowly down the horizon.
***
"Sir, are you there, we are in range of the drop zone, ETA about 5 minutes," the Orca's officer explained but dared not stir the standing Major.
Wallis opened his eyes and refocussed himself back to reality, and turned around and saw the officer standing behind him.
"Huh? I wasn't listening please explain again."
"Sir, we are in range of the drop zone, ETA about 5 minutes," the officer explained replaying the same message.
"Good, take us down," Wallis ordered and the officer saluted and walked off.
Wallis nearly dreamed off again but a sudden rock of the hull and the sound of the engines changing speed and altitude was enough to keep him awake.
The Orca circled like a hawk, coming down fast as the earth came closer and closer until it came to a complete stop on the drop zone, a large cement-landing pad. Support crew around the pad came to action opening the door hatch.
Wallis got into his cockpit and activated his gear, swinging it round and walking outside the craft and onto the pad. A slow breeze caught his face and he breathed in the fresh air, a familiar scent of cleveii plant most common for his mother's taste.
He was home.
***
"Yoji, I will be away for a while, I have to see to my parents, you will be in command until I return," Wallis instructed her the day he boarded the Orca.
"But major, we've got a tournament tomorrow! We can't beat those snakes without you," Rank insisted.
"He's right, we need your command," Serge agreed but Groonz was speechless.
"No, I must go, I haven't been myself lately and I need to think something over. Me being there will never determine our chances against winning against the dragons but neither has our cheating actually resolved anything," Wallace replied gloomily and walked away leaving the Vanguard team looking surprised.
"Sir, we'll do our best tomorrow, we'll kick those punks for good, you'll see," Yoji called and Wallis stopped and half turned.
"I'm sure you will," he said doubtfully and walked off into the corridor empty.
"Why is he going off? He can't leave us now," Rank complained.
"I think he has to sort between family and honour," Serge broke in.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Rank wondered eying the old man.
"It's an earth story, long one too," Serge answered.
"Oh..." Rank said and the vanguard returned to their plans.
***
Major Wallis stood before his house, a huge mansion about five storey's high and he could remember clearly when he was very young running up and down stairs. Many images appeared n his head as he tried ti remember his time there. He lived a wealthy life and he was brought up around gears since then.
He got out of his cockpit and entered the front door, being greeted by his family's servant Bruce and acknowledged him kindly. He found himself in the lobby an enormous chamber where some large stairs came down to the middle of the room.
Wallis waited a moment when a woman came down the stairs wearing a white dress and smiled with her aging face as she wrapped her arms around him.
"Welcome home son," his mother said.
"Thankyou, where is father?"
"Right here," said an old man wearing royal uniform, walking out of another room.
Wallis looked at him and shook his hand.
"How are you son?" the old man asked, concerned.
"I've been better," Drake replied.
"I see, come with me I have something to talk to you about," his father told him and Drake glanced at his mother who just nodded.
They walked out the front door where his father just walked up to the King of Sting
and touched its metal, noting it's strange appearance and amazing colours.
"This is your gear?" asked his father. A rhetorical question.
"Its impressive, but we must talk privately," said his father and led him through their garden, past the lake.
As Drake walked past it he remembered his father giving him a gear for the first time and when he tried to pilot it he slipped and fell in the water making his father wet and angry. He sure got a scolding for that, but now he was considering any particular point in remembering his past. It would never change the future, thought Drake.
After a few minutes of walking they came to a field full of roses of many colours but Drake paid no attention to them.
"What did you want to talk to me about father?"
"I see you've become quite a gear duellists in the past ten years," his father began.
He was surprised at first because he knew where this conversation was leading and clenched his right fist and let it go.
"...Yes father, 9 years as a Ace gear pilot."
"And now?"
"Now...I've lost to a young kid who's abilities as a gear pilot are incredible even though I wouldn't admit that to his face. My team try to win a tournament but the dragons win every time, always finding weak spots in our plans and defeating us at every chance. Colonel Rika demands that we reclaim northern victory in the tournaments but I just can't seem to find a way to beat the new champion," Wallis explained sullenly.
"Indeed. You leave the military because you asked Colonel Rika for a chance to prove yourself. What were you thinking! You may have become a Ace gear pilot for nine years but the tournaments are nothing more than a profit-greedy organization, it's a circus and your merely just clowns!"
"That's not true father! Every gear pilot even the dragons and the vanguard become famous to the planet, its about fame and skill...and winners," Drake protested.
"Oh and the military never gave you skill! Fame, what's so important about that, nothing but profit earners. The military was the best thing for you Drake, that colonel Rika is nothing but a fool. I've seen how you perform now on TV, you are a pathetic losing team. All you can see now is revenge for that kid. I don't care how good he is and frankly a heavy gear champion mean nothing compared to a professional soldier. That's what you could have been Drake but you gave a blind eye to your pride and dignity and joined up to fight in a arena against clowns!"
"My team is not pathetic, how long would it take me to prove myself in the Northern Army!"
"Son, you've lost honour, I can see it in your eyes. Without your honour and pride you are nothing but a cheating fool like in those blast tournaments! The Northern Army could have given you a place of worth instead of fighting for some silly title!"
"My...code of honour...is it really broken?"
"Yes, all you see is victory by any means necessary to take revenge but you fail to accomplish it with a proper and logical means, only your duty as a military officer can give you a purpose," his father explained.
Drake was paralysed; he couldn't believe that a kid had shattered his honour.
I failed my promise, Drake screamed in his head.
17 years ago...
"Alright squad I want a recon patrol issued out like follow. Hicks and Yui take this sector, Heron and Tai take that sector. Drake and Jeff I want you two to take this sector. If you have any questions don't bother, I've already briefed you twice now dismissed," Major Johnson instructed looking over at a holographic image of a map and pointing with a finger at different spots for the squad to move to.
"Yes sir!" shouted the two year serviced soldiers.
"Lets go buddy," Jeff said winking at Drake who was in pilot uniform trying to place his helmet on.
"Yeah sure, but remember we have got to stick to protocol, this is not a drill remember," Drake informed him as they both entered their gears outside the training complex.
Drake had found the gear piloting hard work and very harsh at times but he got to meet some friends who respected him because he had proven himself good at close-hand combat. Three years of military school and then straight to a regiment for two years but he was now a young man but lacked any experience as a pilot.
"Whatever you say, there's bound to be something to find out there," Jeff added and punched his friends gear lightly on the shoulder.
Drake's gear was a Grizzly but it had lost a lot of colour and hadn't been serviced properly due to lack of supplies to the camp. He took his gear out of the camp like the others and went to SMS-mode keeping up with Jeff's Jaguar gear.
They were travelling through the badlands a few miles from northern territory and a large northern city and fire-support bases. Although the war was over, the Northern military still kept regular recon missions over and around its territory to safe-keep its secrets and power especially from bandits attacking unwary pilots or transport vehicles.
"Hmm, systems check good, sensors are working, my gear's performance is good how about yours?" Drake asked Jeff on the intercom.
"I'm doing just fine. We should be in our designated sector, ETA 10 minutes," Jeff replied.
"Roger that," Drake answered and watched through his screen as their gears drove across the desert landscape, the familiar crunching as his gear rolled over the ground.
He was becoming very bored and agitated but they came to a clearing about eleven minutes later and he gave a sigh of relief since he hated silent treks to the desert.
Better still they had reached their sector but there wasn't anything fascinating about it. A dry desert where little rainfall came and therefore no vegetation in sight only the rugged appearance of mesa's and small dunes but the land was mostly flat dry dirt.
"Nothing here but a pile of dirt," Jeff stated and Drake nodded in agreement.
"We should begin our scan..." Drake began to say when he saw movement nearby.
"What?" Jeff asked turning towards him.
Drake pulled his gun closer to his chest and glanced around, "I saw movement, 29 clicks away due left," Drake whispered as if someone was trying to listen in.
"Huh? In these conditions, I think your seeing things there can't possibly..." Jeff said but then his own voice trailed away as he caught the movement too.
"It's a stealth gear!" Jeff cried out.
"A stealth gear, what's that exactly?" Drake insisted.
"They have some sort of dampening device that makes them invisible to radar and sensors, wow I had never thought I'd ever seen one!" Jeff exclaimed.
"It must be a spy," Drake wondered and foolishly he turned his headlights online since it was getting dark.
Instantly the beam of light had given off the stealth gear hiding behind a rock and he recognised the design perfectly.
"It's a gold mamba! No wonder it had a stealth system!" Drake exclaimed but caught a slight movement and then it was followed by an explosion, which caught the two off guard.
"Argh! What was that?' Jeff wondered, concerned.
"A grenade, it was a diversion, look it's moving that way!" Drake called and dashed off towards the fleeing gear. Jeff sped slowly behind since he was not equipped with much weaponry but Drake was and let him settle the strange gear.
"Your mine gear pilot!" Drake said coldly and he was closing in on it but was clear minded on a way of attack. From this angle he thought, he could do a combination of attacks.
The enemy gear knew he was behind and tried to evade a possible attack in that position, but Drake came screaming beside which wasn't expected and brought out a long sharp sword and swung sideways in perfect unison to the other gear's reaction. The gear doubled over and flipped backwards landing on its back.
Drake came rolling back and circled the downed gear and when it tried to get up, he put a foot on its torso and held it down but then he saw that it had little weapons at all.
"Who are you?" Drake questioned.
The gears hatch opened and revealed a young woman, wearing a southern uniform and represented one of their regiments. She had green eyes and long black hair just looking at her made Drake feel uncomfortable but he indeed considered her beautiful. She was well muscled and her face looked like she had only a little bit of combat experience. She noticed that Drake was staring at her for too long.
"Well aren't you going to arrest me?" she said in a harsh yet frightened voice.
"What are you doing here? Were you spying because that is a breach of protocol..."
"Spare me the talk Northerner, It's not like your side hasn't done the same," she broke in.
"Now that you mention it, that is true, but I still want to know why you're here," Drake insisted.
"That's my business, what are you doing here?"
"I'm here on a recon mission and you are the enemy," Drake replied.
"Well then arrest me if I'm your enemy," she teased.
Drake couldn't hold his thoughts very well since he was for the first time, talking to the enemy but he had to confess. "I...I can't do it."
"Huh? Your not exactly doing your job then are you?"
"What's that got to do with anything...I just feel sorry for you," Drake said.
"Sorry, why?"
"Because you were no match for me and I took you down so easily," Drake explained feeling his face blush with embarrassment.
I can't believe this is happening, she is so cute Drake thought.
The young woman blushed but got a little angry as well. "That's because I have barely any weapons!"
Drake saw Jeff coming in fast and he tried to make the conversation stop at that moment. "Look just go now. My friend is catching up and he's not as friendly as me,"
He said quickly and silently so she could hear.
She looked puzzled but nodded and closed her hatch, getting her gear up and dashing off but Drake sent a message to her.
"By the way what's your name?"
"Mine? It's Jennifer, sorry but I've got to go. See you later," she replied and went into the distance.
Jeff came rolling in just in time since he was too far to have listened in on their strange conversation.
"I guess you missed it, damn, the Major would have been pleased if we'd gotten a southern spy!" Jeff exclaimed but Drake showed no agreement.
"I'm sure he would, now lets return to our mission and survey the area for anything," Drake insisted and together they left the area.
Four days had passed and Drake couldn't stop thinking about the young Jennifer and how he would have loved to see her fight in her gear. But as much as he wanted to see her again he had not mentioned anything about her. Ever since that night Jeff had boasted about the spy and the regiment were becoming very keen in the idea of catching this enemy, it even came across Major Johnson's mind at some point.
Drake had been over keen about spending night and day shifts in that sector and always preferred to be alone but none of the regiment suspected anything, they just thought he needed time to train by himself and Major Johnson had no complaints.
He had not seen Jennifer since and was growing very nervous because he kept getting images of her being caught but he knew she was too smart for that.
On the sixth day, he was excited when she came dashing past him but he was unsure if she noticed him. She was now equipped with weapons, a shoulder mounted rocket pod, an autocannon and an anti-gear missile launcher.
"Hey Northerner, impressed now that I've got weapons," she said.
"Very impressed. I've been waiting for you alone for days," Drake answered.
"Really thanks. I'm surprised you didn't take me down when you had the chance and why are you so different to most Northerners who would just hate me?"
"My Honour forbids me to attack a weak opponent, and I don't hate the South despite our differences I only like challenges and I want to test your skills," Drake stated.
"You've been waiting six days for a fight, well what can I say, I'm flattered," she giggled and drew out a sword of her own.
"Let's begin," Drake said grimly.
Drake drew his own sword and they began to circle each other, watching for weak spots on each other's gears. Drake threw the first blow but was countered by Jennifer's sword as it hit with a thunderous effect. They each attacked each other with their swords and Drake was realising that he wasn't the only close-hand expert around these parts. She was exceptionally good, noting all his attacks and blocking them with her sword and then striking just in time for him to block the attack. He took it another step and ducked and came pounding into her torso when her guard was down.
They both fell to the ground, sprawling and then recovering. They both realised they had been fighting for a long time.
"I can't believe we were fighting for so long," Jennifer said, surprised.
"You know you're a very good close-hand expert, where did you learn it?"
"Thanks you're not to bad yourself. My father taught me," she explained.
She opened her hatch and showed herself again, getting out of the gear and looked at the Drake's gear suspiciously.
"Don't look at me like that," she said and he thought she had x-ray vision but then realised that his omnicamera was look in her direction.
Drake opened his own hatch and stepped outside, feeling the dirt crunch on his army boots. He saw her take of her helmet and then try and tie her hair back up with a blue hair band since it had gotten out of place.
She saw him step out and faced him, but he tried not to gawk at her body even though she was slender and turned his head. She found him interesting for a Northerner and she thought he was a bit handsome.
"So what's your name? Or do I just call you Northerner," she demanded, looking him in the face. Her eyes were very pretty and he couldn't stop looking at them until he gulped and finally recovered.
"Lieutenant Drake Alexander Wallis the third, 25^th Regiment Fire Cats," Drake stated, introducing himself.
"I'll just call you Wallis," she said simply turning just in time to witness the sunset.
A mix of vibrant colours flourished the sky all generated from the golden circle that steadily fell. Drake and Jennifer both were thinking that the scene was wonderful and then his eyes returned to her.
What do I say to her, I've never been in this kind of situation before, he thought but was trying to grasp an idea in his head. He was a strong person and his pride guided to what his heart wanted.
"Urgh...Jennifer I want to tell you something," he said softly and she turned around to meet his worried face.
"What is it?" She whispered walking up to him.
"..."
"What you can tell me, if its about that spy mission, I can't tell you its..."
"I love you."
"...restricted information...what?"
Drake blushed madly and turned his head to hide his shame in saying it.
Without really thinking she hugged him tight and they stood there for a short time.
An hour past as they both sat on a cliff overlooking the desert but Drake was interested in something else. Breaking away from a kiss Jennifer managed to regain herself.
"If we leave as you suggest where would we go, what would we do for a living?" she wondered looking into his eyes.
"Umm...haven't thought that one out yet, perhaps Major Johnson could help me on that one," he joked.
"I'm serious," she said after giggling.
"Sorry your majesty. We could live out in the badlands, have a family, as for living what are you supposing?" he said suspiciously.
"...Well since you and I are pretty good at piloting gears I was thinking we could join the Heavy Gear Tournaments which have been taking place for years. Think of the excitement, the crowd and feeling of being a contestant. Winning is not everything but it would be the best thing in my whole life...that is what I thought until we started loving each other," she explained her eyes filled with excitement.
"The Heavy Gear Tournaments sounds interesting enough, but what about my military career, my honour and my parents would definitely not approve they think those tournaments are circuses!" Drake said thinking over the consequences.
"Why does it always revolve around duty, you have freedom to do what you like Wallis," she begged and folded her arms.
"I never thought I had freedom, but I want to make a oath Jennifer. I promise to you that I will leave the military and join you and together we will become Ace Gear Pilots," Drake suggested holding her hand and knowing that his heart was now under its spell to keep that oath.
"You promise to do that for me?" the young woman asked looking over at him.
"Yes with all my heart I'll do it for you, but it seems more like a dream than anything else to accomplish," he replied sitting by the young woman on top of a cliff looking out at the sunset beginning to die away.
"Oh, how so?" the woman asked and laid her hand on his shoulder.
"It's...complicated. I've got my honour, and my parents and my military duty but on the other I have you and a dream," he explained holding out his hands as if trying to explain to her what he meant.
She leant next to him and kissed him softly on his cheek.
"Don't worry, life is hard sometimes but a person has to fight for a dream and nothing can stop him or her from accomplishing it if they fight hard and logically," she whispered in his ear.
They watched the sun flitter against the clouds as the sun broke out of its setting and moved ever slowly down the horizon, causing the night sky to appear almost suddenly. For the first time in his life he had never seen a clear night as this, the stars burned brighter than ever as if trying to say something to him.
"And what if I can't reach that dream, that everything is against me," Drake wondered.
"Then do your best, strike where they have thought you are weak and crush their pride as much as they have yours," Jennifer replied, reciting a quote taken by a famous Earth star ship captain facing against all odds and winning with his life intact.
"Treat your enemy as you would treat them and respect their pride as much as your own," Drake said.
"Where'd that come from?" Jennifer wondered.
"I made it up, it's supposed to represent our differences," Drake answered.
"Hey let me think of a quote...hmm can't think of one," Jennifer said and they both broke out laughing.
"Only through absolute uniformity of purpose can victory be achieved. Heroism on the battlefield is as dangerous as cowardice," Jennifer mumbled before slipping into sleep on his chest.
He stayed up a while thinking that last quote over and over in his head as if it meant something. It penetrated deep into his mind and heart but he couldn't work out what it meant to him.
Victory is balanced between an open-minded group who have good leadership, loyalty, used for their different talents, respect, fair combat and perfect teamwork. It will not give you ultimate chances of winning a battle but it will put the odds in favour of winning the war, Drake thought before resting into a sleep.
"So this is where you were hiding, Tssk Tssk," said a familiar voice and Drake jumped to his feet immediately.
His fear increased when he saw Jeff standing in front of him, his gear a few meters away. He could not believe that he was now in great trouble and thought of an excuse to make but nothing came to mind.
So much for open minded, said a voice in his mind.
"I...Hi Jeff, what's happening back at base? Doesn't the Major need a hand or two," Drake said lamely.
"Hahaha, I'm sure the Major will be quite pleased when he hears about you sleeping with a Southerner," Jeff teased.
"No you wouldn't...please don't!" Drake protested looking more frightened in his life then ever.
"Weeeell, since you and the young lady get along so well, I've decided I won't go and tell the Major and end your military career, get flogged by your parents and get publicly announced in the Northern states as a traitor sooo..." Jeff teased. He was enjoying this very much and wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. Drake could only gulp and stare at what he was going to say.
Oh god I never thought it would get this bad, Drake thought, felling even more frightened of the possibility.
"As a good caring best friend for four years, who would do anything for the sake of his wishes and would never think of putting my own desires before his, will do everything in his power to safe keep his friend in the case...of blackmailing him," he teased further.
"Blackmail?!"
"Yep, that's right you do something for me otherwise I go and tell mr Major Annoying-butt that his best pal has decided to switch allegiances," he said with a evil grin.
"Your no fun! What is it you want me to do exactly?" Drake wondered and Jeff came up and whispered into his ear and his eyes became less wider than before.
"I see, well that can be arranged but just keep your promise ok?" Drake demanded and Jeff could only nod. Jennifer had woken up from the noise and was just about to attack Jeff when Drake quickly introduced her to his best friend.
"Well now that it's sorted out, we better be heading back to base Wallis," Jeff suggested and walked back to his gear.
Jennifer and Drake faced each other, "Well I guess I'll see you later then Wallis," Jennifer said quietly and kissed him.
"Hey lovebirds! Wake up, we gotta be back before lunch not next millennium. Ummm...guys, you are listening to me aren't you? How long is this kissing going to take...HELLO THIS IS GOD CALLING PLEASE RESPOND?!!!"
The two loving couples jumped in fright at the magnitude of Jeff's voice over his gear's microphone.
"OW! I think I lost my hearing...and I'm a little dizzy too," a tiny voice said inside the gear.
Drake and Jennifer laughed together, "Your friend is strange," smiled Jennifer.
"I know, but he doesn't hate you southerners like most other northerners, he can see our differences clearly as I do but never judges them," Drake explained and they broke off and sat in their own gear cockpits.
"Finally, I'm dying of old age here," Jeff said over the intercom.
"Shut up Jeff," Drake smiled and waved goodbye at Jennifer as she dashed off yet again.
"Let's head back," Drake informed his friend as they both switched to SMS-mode and travelled back to their respected training base.
Two weeks had passed and Drake had seen Jennifer more than twice despite Jeff's grumbling. He had kept a cool and not told a single soul of their relationship and Drake admired him for that. Drake had taken more time learning about strategy and took classes to learn more about this subject, which he liked very much.
He was taking some training as he practiced his shooting on holographic targets and he had been getting better each time but it was a slow process and sometimes very tiring. Immediately after missing a target the entire base was put on full alert and a comical image came in his mind.
I just missed once, nothing to put the base on alert for, he thought grimly.
But when he exited his gear and entered the radar room he knew that it was not a funny situation and that it was very serious. Men and women took positions on all sides of the room, stationed at different consoles and screens, all sensors, electronic communications and radar. He found Major Johnson near the main screen.
"Sir, what is the situation?" Drake asked after saluting his superior officer.
"Lieutenant, The scanners have picked up a single gear, it's a spy most likely. I'm sending Lieutenant Jeff Moryson to investigate and destroy it since he is the closest unit," Major Johnson explained.
Fear flooded Drake's mind and heart at the thought of losing Jennifer and at the point where he couldn't help her at all.
"Sir, we've reached Lieutenant Jeff Moryson, but there is a problem," said a communications officer.
"What is it?" asked the Major who seemed a bit agitated.
"Sir, he refuses to co-operate, he says he will not engage the enemy," the communications officer answered felling the Major's anger grow.
Drake took the time to leave the room before the Major could unleash his anger on Jeff. He was very relieved but guilt flooded his heart since it was Jeff who realised how close Jennifer and Drake were and would not harm her even if ordered to.
He waited patiently all day in his cabin, playing a few card games with his team mates and then saw Jeff come trolling in from the entrance but when he got out he looked o upset, tears were forming in his eyes and he never looked up as he got out and walked slowly into Major Johnson's office.
He waited possibly another twenty minutes but he couldn't hear a word from the Major's office but the door burst open and a bloody Jeff was dragged out of the office by two huge guards taking him to a cell for containment. Since he wasn't there to hear anything he still had a pretty good idea of what happened during the conversation between Jeff and the Major.
He slept unceasingly during the night and when he was woken by an officer who insisted that everyone in the regiment be inside their gears for a patrol mission as a whole group. Drake didn't see the logic in that but he followed orders, taking a quick shower and dressing in his military uniform as always he ran outside and jumped into his cockpit. He then joined all the other twenty Gears lining up in front of two other Gears. One was a security gear and the other; a Jaguar Gear was Major Johnson.
"Listen up Fire Cats, we've detected three more spies and have identified them as bandits, there are possibly more around but they should be no threat against us. So prepare yourself for real combat and follow my lead, take a tight formation," Major Johnson announced.
"Yes sir!"
"Then let's move out!" The Major called and every gear turned to SMS-Mode and rolled out of the base, keeping a diamond formation as they ventured through the desert.
Drake knew that Jeff was contained for the moment and wished he were here by his side so that he could fight along side him. Drake's body was filled with adrenaline since he would be getting a challenge he wished he had left aside.
"We're gonna kick those bandits back where they came from!"
"Yeah we'll see how many targets you and I get," said some of the younger pilots.
"Hey don't forget me, I'm in this too!"
"What about you, you're not betting."
One of the pilots nudged the cocky pilot.
"Keep your eyes on the road this is not a exercise, this is a real combat situation you could get killed if you don't pay attention!"
"I suppose your right Yui, but do you wanna bet?"
"I hope you die first," Yui sneered and rolled back until he caught up with Drake.
"Having troubles Yui?" Drake said, unconcerned.
"I hate new pilots, they always think they will just fly through life without a scratch. After this battle they'll see that gear combat is not just fun and games," Yui complained and Drake was forced to agree with him on some points.
"We are nearly at the spot," Drake informed him and he saw Yui prepare for battle, pressing his gun as close to his torso as possible.
Suddenly a blast of light appeared ahead and then continued by weapons fire and the whole Regiment froze and checked their sensors. For some odd reason they just appeared on radar, which meant there was some kind of stealth generator nearby.
There were much more gears than expected and Drake knew it could get very dangerous at this rate.
`They're surrounding us!" Yui cried in shock and spun around and was immediately thrown into a close-hand combat with a bandit. Each bandit had either a Jäger or Hunter, a strange mix of north and south war machines in a mysterious army.
"What do we do? I'm so scarred!" cried a young pilot and Drake actually fell sorry for him but other things were on his mind at the time.
According to Drake's radar there were forty of the bandits and twenty of the Fire Cats. A good strategist would see that the battle would be lost easily if something didn't happen fast.
"Fire Cats stand your ground and destroy them at any cost!" Major Johnson yelled through the intercom.
Some of the regiment gave weak replies but most were scarred stiff but Drake had to try and find a way out. He wasn't going to die here just because a Major told him to stay put.
"Wallis, can you hear me?" called a familiar voice over a private transmission.
Drake nearly jumped out of his skin at the voice of Jennifer on the intercom.
"I hear you loud and clear, why did you alert our base?" Drake demanded.
"I didn't that was a bandit acting as a lure. I tried my best to contact you before, I'm afraid your Regiment is caught in a trap," Jennifer explained and Drake's eyes widened.
"I need you to lure as many as you can to my locations, I've set a nasty trap for them. I will cover you as you come towards me," Jennifer told him and then her transmission ended without him replying. His scanners suddenly picked up her gear since she must have shut down her stealth system.
In a rapid outburst, the bandits came from both sides all that was heard and felt was the thunder from gunfire, the smashing of missiles and the occasional clang of someone fighting fist to fist. It was a real battle and Drake was shot at by a missile causing him to hit the ground and then spotted his opponent a Hunter gear armed to the teeth. Everybody was converged in a brutal battle as debris ricocheted and hit a bandit in the omnicamera making him pretty much blind.
Drake suffered minimal damage from the missile and stood firing his auto cannon in an arc to match the enemy's reaction. He reacted just like Drake thought, dodging it and turning to catch a blow to a weak spot but Drake was on full guard and his missile caught the gear in the legs, blowing them sky high from the torso.
Felling something not right he sidestepped and amazed he had reacted so quickly two missiles barely scrapped his head and shot off somewhere else. If those missiles had hit him in a critical spot his gear would have been taken down.
Spinning around, Drake saw his attacker and charged at him, hiding most of himself in the crowd of the battle and out of nowhere he struck the black gear in its arm actuator, tearing it off with his sword. Before the gear could swing around and defend itself, Drake spun the sword fast and then sliced into a leg causing the enemy Gear to fall to the ground and shutdown since its V-engine had been damaged.
He was standing on a dune edge and saw the battle escalating but a large section of the bandits caught his eye and they moved towards him, very quickly.
"Time to move!" Drake yelped and moved fast to lure them to the trap.
One of the bandit Gears was in his way and he didn't think but targeted him and fired two missiles directly into its torso at point blank range before it could move and it flew backwards and crashed on the dirt way ahead and from its immobile state he knew that Gear was no longer a threat.
Drake could count about nineteen Gears heading in his direction, like a massive stampede after him. He was not impressed with what he had to do.
He continued through the desert until a Gear up ahead started firing at the Gears behind him and he met up with Jennifer who was covering him. There were six other Gears all in the same Regiment as her and she was their duellist and accepted Drake because he was a friend of her. There was no conversation transmitted because there was very little time to do anything but fire back at the converging Bandit gears.
"Let's do it!" Jennifer cried through the intercom and the other Southern Gears changed to another weapon. Grenade Launchers.
"Fire!" she ordered and in one mighty flash of light and smoke they each fired a grenade into the air watching as it rained down on the enemy Gears. Wallis decided to help and fired his remaining missiles but most were very weak and had little effect, but he did damage two of the Gears and the huge explosions that followed showed that the grenades had destroyed three more Gears.
But more Gears came and spread out, and a second attack would be useless since they learned from their mistake. The Six Southern Gears spread out and changed back to autocannons and Jennifer fired a anti-gear missile which blew off a Gear's head but the pilot inside would be alive until a friend of his rolled over him by accident.
Drake was not pleased in the scene and he still held his sword in one hand and rolled to the farthest Southern Gear and further still until he could flank them. He felt his anger deepen his thoughts as he came charging from the side of a enemy Gear knocking it over and then brought the sword down on its engine which caused the Gear to blow up but Wallis was not near the explosion since he was attacking a more suitable Gear pilot who actually knew how to fight close-combat.
This guy is a superb swordsman, but I'm always better, thought Wallis smugly.
Wallis brought his sword in unison with the enemy's blocks but Wallis got the upper hand and barely scratched the gear's torso but it was a blow either way. The enemy's sword came down a second time and actually hit his gear's left arm, punctuating it and twisting it as if Drake was supposed to feel pain and he had also lost control of it.
Suddenly Wallis realised that the enemy was trying to get his sword out and now was a perfect time to catch him off guard. Twisting his right arm he brought the sword towards the enemy's middle torso and tore slowly through, feeling the amount of strength required to break to the other side. In a snap he got the sword all the way across and then smiled evilly as the enemy's omnicamera staring at him. With all his available strength he used the Grizzly's strength to twist the sword sideways and break it in two.
Pulling the sword freely from its broken torso he watched the top half fall down followed by its legs. He had always wanted to do that but was never given the chance to do so and felt good about doing it now. He faced the smaller battle where he could already see three smoking Southern Gears lying on the ground, they're insides exploded revealing only red blood.
It was a awful sight and Drake looked away and came across a enemy Gear lying on the dirt, half melted and destroyed with a body handing from under hatch which had fallen on him when he tried to get out. Real combat was always a bad sight to look at when someone had been killed.
"Jennifer!" Drake called and he sprinted towards the nearest fighting area.
He found five enemy Gears standing circling and giggling like Hyenas as they watched their prey trying to figure out what to do with it. Drake was beyond exhaustion already and his adrenaline was overclouding his judgement but he thrust his sword into a Gear and then moved to the next Gear but was hit by a missile and sent sprawling onto the dirt.
Drake looked around and saw two other gears, all-burning from the inside as sparks flashed from joints and lay still against the earth. Their torso's looked like a monster had ripped off all the metal to reach the pilot inside and the arms were so mutilated it was barely even recognisable due to the amount of debris encased on its surface.
He looked around more, feeling his heart pounding against his chest and he was flooded with fear and exhaustion but still he looked around. There was barely enough light to see the enemy Gears standing over him, laughing as they pointed to a single black object.
When he looked harder at the object he saw the rugged shape, the thick armoured legs and arms that were always shiny and gold was scratched and charred from battle. The recognisable head was nearly shredded with the omnicamera completely blasted off and the ear like devices bent beyond recovery. The anti-gear missile launcher had been torn off, forgotten on the ground.
A small fire flickered nearby and caught the long sharp spear bursting from the torso, sticking exactly vertical in the firelight. Three massive Battle-axes struck right into the left and right arm and finally below the spear.
It was the remains of Jennifer's Gear.
"NO!" cried Drake as he stumbled upwards and ran to the crippled Gold Mamba, eying every piece of damage it had suffered over the past hour.
With the Gear's functioning hand Drake pulled the Axe from the torso and threw it aside and then pulled the spear from the breached torso and as he brought the spear finally out he saw the dark red blood all over its tip.
He ripped the torso off with little effort since there was barely anything holding it together and saw Jennifer in her pilot chair gazing back at her lover. Drake could only give a shriek of horror seeing her body in the condition it was.
Blood spilled from her mouth and stomach, drenching her clothes. She was dying from the loss of so much blood and she would be dead soon.
"You...you came back for me," she gurgled.
"Yyyes, You should have called for me I would have protected you," Drake gasped.
"I know, at least I'll die a warrior then nothing at all...and if you are wondering what you could possibly do to make me happy is pursue your promise to me, have some time in the military and then become your dream and don't tell anyone about me...it could affect your life deeply..." Jennifer said and coughed horribly until she was silent and dead, her eyes closed to the world.
"I will make that promise I swear," Drake said, crying his heart out for a long time but then his anger overtook him and he spun his gear around and found that the laughing Gears had disappeared as if they were ghosts.
Drake felt his spine tingle at the thought of ghosts especially after surviving a battle like this but he hated seeing an invisible enemy at any cost.
"Where are you!" Drake yelled into the night but there was no reply.
Drake stood watching the stars for a couple of minutes when his damaged scanners detected two Gears heading his. Both were northern Gears.
They stopped when they saw the carnage and then saw the standing Gear but instead of greeting him warmly they both stuck out their auto cannons towards him and this time Drake really thought he was going to die.
"You Traitor! You deserted your Regiment to help those filthy Southerners I out to shoot you here and now but I'm taking you back for court martial," Major Johnson snapped.
"Don't I even get a medal for saving your butt, I practically led half their forces away from you," Drake replied a little annoyed at the Major's attitude.
"You violated our trusted Northern tradition!"
"Give me a break Major, you're the fool who got us trapped," Drake insulted him and the Major lost his nerve and pushed his Gear so hard that it fell over landing some debris but causing no damage.
The Major brought his auto cannon around and aimed at his Gear but then a huge explosion occurred behind him and the shock wave nearly swept him off his feet.
"Hey Wallis need a hand!"
"Jeff! How did you get here?" Drake demanded.
"I escaped and I've come to help you," he answered and from the distance a Jaguar Gear appeared slowly carrying a massive Snub cannon.
Drake looked at the Major's companion, who was merely little scraps of metal lying where it once stood. He had fired his snub cannon and missiles causing the gear to explode.
"How did you get here!" The Major snarled and Drake could almost feel the anger radiating off him.
The Major charged at Jeff but he stood completely still and Jeff gave a small transmission to his friend.
"Goodbye friend," was all he said and he could make our a few sobs as Jeff spoke and then he realised what Jeff was going to do but was powerless to stop him. Jeff had cut his communications off and braced for a collision course.
The Major did not stop but in seconds of impact he saw Jeff fire every weapon in disposal and then held a bomb in his hand and pressed its ignition button.
In a blazing golden flash the Major, Jeff and the land around them became nothing more than a huge crater about 20 meters in depth. The shockwave caused Drake's gear to shift weight and fly about a few meters before slamming in the ground.
Drake's eyes were filled with tears but his exhaustion flooded him as he fell into a restless sleep, dreaming of being with Jennifer and Jeff in a cloud city of wonders.
When Drake woke up in the middle of a graveyard he quietly said his goodbyes to both his friends and buried both of them before he left the area.
On his way he came across four survivors from the Fire Cats, Yui was one survivor and the three young pilots who had gotten more than they had expected. Anger, Death, Horror all those emotions so alien to them and yet they managed to survive.
Yui had told Drake about their battle and how in a blink of an eye they disappeared as if they were ghosts.
Drake on the other hand did not mention Jennifer's as she had asked and had told about Jeff's sacrifice killing the Major in the process. Yui took it easy but the young pilots did not. They were all friends with Jeff at some point or another and Drake said that his honour had been shown through his sacrifice for a friend.
The five Gears left their battlefields and returned back to the training base where the Northern Officials were given all the details of the battle except Drake didn't mention the support of the Southerners since that might get them a bit ticked off if said in the wrong way. For his bravery Wallis was given a medal of honour and was promoted to Captain.
As the years passed on, Drake Alexander Wallis the third became a Major, had developed much military knowledge but not enough and was officially recognised by Colonel Rika who gave him a position in the Heavy Gear Tournaments. He had kept his promise but as he matured he become less skilled as he had once been and after gaining nine years as Heavy Gear Champion he was eventually beaten by Marcus Steven Rover a badlander kid who just happened to be slightly more skilled and open minded and followed the tournament combat fairly.
However Major Wallis had begun to lose a piece of honour as soon as he had won the second year as Champion and he became very cocky and his judgement was sometimes clouded but this was already occurring before Marcus came along and since he had tasted defeat so many times at the hand of the dragons, his pride was beginning to break away faster and he could only see that something was breaking in his mind and hart but he was unsure of what that was until he really thought about Jennifer after a long time.
"And have you heard a word I said son?" his father asked, eying him suspiciously.
"Yes every word," Wallis lied.
"Good then your mother and I have come to a agreement that we will support you in every way we can, even though I don't like the tournaments and please show some honour in your tactics, winning isn't everything and cheating only makes it worse," his father suggested.
Jennifer used to say winning isn't everything, perhaps over all my years in military I have forgotten what it was like to understood what she meant then and how she had said it to represent the future. Perhaps it's time I changed, well just a little bit, he thought considering his options.
"Thankyou for supporting me father but I've got to go now, got a tournament tomorrow," Wallis insisted.
"But you said you'd stay for a week," his father reminded him.
"Did I? Sorry but gotta run and kick dragon butt...Bye!" Wallis gasped, hugged his father quickly and left in a hurry
He ran across the garden in a mad spree, dodging gardeners and mad sprinkling systems on the way and climbing into his cockpit and saying goodbye to his mother who look as confused as his father. He took his gear down to the landing pad where he saw the Orca officer who also gave a puzzled look.
"Sir your back already?"
"Yeah, boy that week travelled fast huh? Now please take off now!" Major Wallis insisted and stepped into the craft. The officer thought the Major had gone nuts but told his pilots to take off immediately.
The Orca took off immediately and Major Wallis just hoped he wasn't too late to try something nasty to his team, especially since he was...a little changed.
"Well I'm still going to keep that promise," Wallis said into the air.
"Major, your back already? You said you'd be taking the week off," Rank exclaimed as he sat on a table with Serge.
Serge just grinned as Rank slipped him a couple of notes, "Alright you win the bet, he came back quicker than I thought."
"That's correct Rank nice of you to notice," Major Wallis smirked and the rest of the Vanguard walked into the room and greeted him and then shut up and let their leader speak.
"Vanguard. During my time with my parents I've had a look at my performances lately. It seems that we need to make some changes to improve our chances of winning tournaments," Major Wallis began.
Yoji and Groonz revealed a board showing their plans of putting bombs on different field obstacles and Major Wallis just shook his head.
"And I don't mean by cheating," Major Wallis finished.
Rank gulped loudly and looked worried at what he thought Wallis was going to say.
"Starting from now you will all be required to train at different intervals of the day. We will all be required for fitness training. Rank you will practice your melee weapon skills, Yoji you will take targeting practice and speed races, Serge you need to practice those sniping abilities and Groonz you need to know how to use your Gear properly instead of using explosives all the time. We will also concentrate on teamwork and develop our talents and abilities and you will all get used to strategies that you will have to memorize in your sleep if needed," Major Wallis explained his grand idea of keeping the Vanguard in top performance.
"But Major I'm too exhausted to train!" Rank complained.
"Rank you most of all will be involved in enough fitness training to stop you from thinking of food," Major Wallis assured him.
Rank looks down at the floor, grumbling "So much for sneaking out during the week and going to the Movies."
The Vanguard looked at the leader, open mouthed at what he just said. No cheating was something they would have to get used to in due time and training.
"Dismissed I will see you all ready for training in one hour," Major Wallis intended and walked down the corridor towards his quarters leaving the Vanguard even more surprised.
Major Wallis walked down the silent corridors, the only sounds were the echoing of his footsteps but a quote raced around his head, almost familiar but he could recognise who had said it.
Only through absolute uniformity of purpose can victory be achieved. Heroism on the battlefield is as dangerous as cowardice.
Victory is balanced between an open-minded group who have good leadership, loyalty, used for their different talents, respect, fair combat and perfect teamwork. It will not give you ultimate chances of winning a battle but it will put the odds in favour of winning the war
They raced around his mind but couldn't figure out who said them and then in an instant he remembered and smiled.
"See Jennifer I still keep my promise to this day," Wallis said to nothing at all.
As Wallis continued to walk alone through the corridor he was not aware of the figure watching him.
Jennifer appeared for only a second and smiled as she watched him remember and then vanished, knowing that her being was still unfinished leaving the corridors dark and cold as Major Wallis's heart had once been but now reborn with hope.
Author's note: This is my interpretation of Major Wallis and how he became a Ace Gear Pilot. If you are unimpressed with my work then I apologise heaps if the story doesn't meet the correct life that Wallis went through or what you perceived of him. But either way I really hope you enjoy it! ( Please give feedback!)
Major Wallis looked through the window portal overlooking the village just outside Valeria, a large property covered mostly by woods and a lake near the front of the mansion. He could feel the humming of the Orca's engines and the caressing batter of the wind on the craft's hull as it soared over the area coming in range of landing. Twenty-two years had passed since he had left his home and joined the northern army then decided to become a duellist and held nine grand years as the official heavy gear champion. Now, after a year passed his fame became nothing more than humiliation after Marcus defeated him and became the new champion. It seemed that Wallis had taken every measure to regain his title and his heart could only see revenge in his eyes and mostly affected was his pride and honour, which had been crippled by his change in personality. He closed his eyes for only a moment and an image appeared in his mind.
***
"You promise to do that for me?" the young woman asked looking over at him.
"Yes with all my heart I'll do it for you, but it seems more like a dream than anything else to accomplish," he replied sitting by the young woman on top of a cliff looking out at the sunset beginning to die away.
"Oh, how so?" the woman asked and laid her hand on his shoulder.
"It's...complicated. I've got my honour, and my parents and my military duty but on the other I have you and a dream," he explained holding out his hands as if trying to explain to her what he meant.
She leant next to him and kissed him softly on his cheek.
"Don't worry, life is hard sometimes but a person has to fight for a dream and nothing can stop him or her from accomplishing it if they fight hard and logically," she whispered in his ear.
They watched the sun flitter against the clouds as the sun broke out of its setting and moved ever slowly down the horizon.
***
"Sir, are you there, we are in range of the drop zone, ETA about 5 minutes," the Orca's officer explained but dared not stir the standing Major.
Wallis opened his eyes and refocussed himself back to reality, and turned around and saw the officer standing behind him.
"Huh? I wasn't listening please explain again."
"Sir, we are in range of the drop zone, ETA about 5 minutes," the officer explained replaying the same message.
"Good, take us down," Wallis ordered and the officer saluted and walked off.
Wallis nearly dreamed off again but a sudden rock of the hull and the sound of the engines changing speed and altitude was enough to keep him awake.
The Orca circled like a hawk, coming down fast as the earth came closer and closer until it came to a complete stop on the drop zone, a large cement-landing pad. Support crew around the pad came to action opening the door hatch.
Wallis got into his cockpit and activated his gear, swinging it round and walking outside the craft and onto the pad. A slow breeze caught his face and he breathed in the fresh air, a familiar scent of cleveii plant most common for his mother's taste.
He was home.
***
"Yoji, I will be away for a while, I have to see to my parents, you will be in command until I return," Wallis instructed her the day he boarded the Orca.
"But major, we've got a tournament tomorrow! We can't beat those snakes without you," Rank insisted.
"He's right, we need your command," Serge agreed but Groonz was speechless.
"No, I must go, I haven't been myself lately and I need to think something over. Me being there will never determine our chances against winning against the dragons but neither has our cheating actually resolved anything," Wallace replied gloomily and walked away leaving the Vanguard team looking surprised.
"Sir, we'll do our best tomorrow, we'll kick those punks for good, you'll see," Yoji called and Wallis stopped and half turned.
"I'm sure you will," he said doubtfully and walked off into the corridor empty.
"Why is he going off? He can't leave us now," Rank complained.
"I think he has to sort between family and honour," Serge broke in.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Rank wondered eying the old man.
"It's an earth story, long one too," Serge answered.
"Oh..." Rank said and the vanguard returned to their plans.
***
Major Wallis stood before his house, a huge mansion about five storey's high and he could remember clearly when he was very young running up and down stairs. Many images appeared n his head as he tried ti remember his time there. He lived a wealthy life and he was brought up around gears since then.
He got out of his cockpit and entered the front door, being greeted by his family's servant Bruce and acknowledged him kindly. He found himself in the lobby an enormous chamber where some large stairs came down to the middle of the room.
Wallis waited a moment when a woman came down the stairs wearing a white dress and smiled with her aging face as she wrapped her arms around him.
"Welcome home son," his mother said.
"Thankyou, where is father?"
"Right here," said an old man wearing royal uniform, walking out of another room.
Wallis looked at him and shook his hand.
"How are you son?" the old man asked, concerned.
"I've been better," Drake replied.
"I see, come with me I have something to talk to you about," his father told him and Drake glanced at his mother who just nodded.
They walked out the front door where his father just walked up to the King of Sting
and touched its metal, noting it's strange appearance and amazing colours.
"This is your gear?" asked his father. A rhetorical question.
"Its impressive, but we must talk privately," said his father and led him through their garden, past the lake.
As Drake walked past it he remembered his father giving him a gear for the first time and when he tried to pilot it he slipped and fell in the water making his father wet and angry. He sure got a scolding for that, but now he was considering any particular point in remembering his past. It would never change the future, thought Drake.
After a few minutes of walking they came to a field full of roses of many colours but Drake paid no attention to them.
"What did you want to talk to me about father?"
"I see you've become quite a gear duellists in the past ten years," his father began.
He was surprised at first because he knew where this conversation was leading and clenched his right fist and let it go.
"...Yes father, 9 years as a Ace gear pilot."
"And now?"
"Now...I've lost to a young kid who's abilities as a gear pilot are incredible even though I wouldn't admit that to his face. My team try to win a tournament but the dragons win every time, always finding weak spots in our plans and defeating us at every chance. Colonel Rika demands that we reclaim northern victory in the tournaments but I just can't seem to find a way to beat the new champion," Wallis explained sullenly.
"Indeed. You leave the military because you asked Colonel Rika for a chance to prove yourself. What were you thinking! You may have become a Ace gear pilot for nine years but the tournaments are nothing more than a profit-greedy organization, it's a circus and your merely just clowns!"
"That's not true father! Every gear pilot even the dragons and the vanguard become famous to the planet, its about fame and skill...and winners," Drake protested.
"Oh and the military never gave you skill! Fame, what's so important about that, nothing but profit earners. The military was the best thing for you Drake, that colonel Rika is nothing but a fool. I've seen how you perform now on TV, you are a pathetic losing team. All you can see now is revenge for that kid. I don't care how good he is and frankly a heavy gear champion mean nothing compared to a professional soldier. That's what you could have been Drake but you gave a blind eye to your pride and dignity and joined up to fight in a arena against clowns!"
"My team is not pathetic, how long would it take me to prove myself in the Northern Army!"
"Son, you've lost honour, I can see it in your eyes. Without your honour and pride you are nothing but a cheating fool like in those blast tournaments! The Northern Army could have given you a place of worth instead of fighting for some silly title!"
"My...code of honour...is it really broken?"
"Yes, all you see is victory by any means necessary to take revenge but you fail to accomplish it with a proper and logical means, only your duty as a military officer can give you a purpose," his father explained.
Drake was paralysed; he couldn't believe that a kid had shattered his honour.
I failed my promise, Drake screamed in his head.
17 years ago...
"Alright squad I want a recon patrol issued out like follow. Hicks and Yui take this sector, Heron and Tai take that sector. Drake and Jeff I want you two to take this sector. If you have any questions don't bother, I've already briefed you twice now dismissed," Major Johnson instructed looking over at a holographic image of a map and pointing with a finger at different spots for the squad to move to.
"Yes sir!" shouted the two year serviced soldiers.
"Lets go buddy," Jeff said winking at Drake who was in pilot uniform trying to place his helmet on.
"Yeah sure, but remember we have got to stick to protocol, this is not a drill remember," Drake informed him as they both entered their gears outside the training complex.
Drake had found the gear piloting hard work and very harsh at times but he got to meet some friends who respected him because he had proven himself good at close-hand combat. Three years of military school and then straight to a regiment for two years but he was now a young man but lacked any experience as a pilot.
"Whatever you say, there's bound to be something to find out there," Jeff added and punched his friends gear lightly on the shoulder.
Drake's gear was a Grizzly but it had lost a lot of colour and hadn't been serviced properly due to lack of supplies to the camp. He took his gear out of the camp like the others and went to SMS-mode keeping up with Jeff's Jaguar gear.
They were travelling through the badlands a few miles from northern territory and a large northern city and fire-support bases. Although the war was over, the Northern military still kept regular recon missions over and around its territory to safe-keep its secrets and power especially from bandits attacking unwary pilots or transport vehicles.
"Hmm, systems check good, sensors are working, my gear's performance is good how about yours?" Drake asked Jeff on the intercom.
"I'm doing just fine. We should be in our designated sector, ETA 10 minutes," Jeff replied.
"Roger that," Drake answered and watched through his screen as their gears drove across the desert landscape, the familiar crunching as his gear rolled over the ground.
He was becoming very bored and agitated but they came to a clearing about eleven minutes later and he gave a sigh of relief since he hated silent treks to the desert.
Better still they had reached their sector but there wasn't anything fascinating about it. A dry desert where little rainfall came and therefore no vegetation in sight only the rugged appearance of mesa's and small dunes but the land was mostly flat dry dirt.
"Nothing here but a pile of dirt," Jeff stated and Drake nodded in agreement.
"We should begin our scan..." Drake began to say when he saw movement nearby.
"What?" Jeff asked turning towards him.
Drake pulled his gun closer to his chest and glanced around, "I saw movement, 29 clicks away due left," Drake whispered as if someone was trying to listen in.
"Huh? In these conditions, I think your seeing things there can't possibly..." Jeff said but then his own voice trailed away as he caught the movement too.
"It's a stealth gear!" Jeff cried out.
"A stealth gear, what's that exactly?" Drake insisted.
"They have some sort of dampening device that makes them invisible to radar and sensors, wow I had never thought I'd ever seen one!" Jeff exclaimed.
"It must be a spy," Drake wondered and foolishly he turned his headlights online since it was getting dark.
Instantly the beam of light had given off the stealth gear hiding behind a rock and he recognised the design perfectly.
"It's a gold mamba! No wonder it had a stealth system!" Drake exclaimed but caught a slight movement and then it was followed by an explosion, which caught the two off guard.
"Argh! What was that?' Jeff wondered, concerned.
"A grenade, it was a diversion, look it's moving that way!" Drake called and dashed off towards the fleeing gear. Jeff sped slowly behind since he was not equipped with much weaponry but Drake was and let him settle the strange gear.
"Your mine gear pilot!" Drake said coldly and he was closing in on it but was clear minded on a way of attack. From this angle he thought, he could do a combination of attacks.
The enemy gear knew he was behind and tried to evade a possible attack in that position, but Drake came screaming beside which wasn't expected and brought out a long sharp sword and swung sideways in perfect unison to the other gear's reaction. The gear doubled over and flipped backwards landing on its back.
Drake came rolling back and circled the downed gear and when it tried to get up, he put a foot on its torso and held it down but then he saw that it had little weapons at all.
"Who are you?" Drake questioned.
The gears hatch opened and revealed a young woman, wearing a southern uniform and represented one of their regiments. She had green eyes and long black hair just looking at her made Drake feel uncomfortable but he indeed considered her beautiful. She was well muscled and her face looked like she had only a little bit of combat experience. She noticed that Drake was staring at her for too long.
"Well aren't you going to arrest me?" she said in a harsh yet frightened voice.
"What are you doing here? Were you spying because that is a breach of protocol..."
"Spare me the talk Northerner, It's not like your side hasn't done the same," she broke in.
"Now that you mention it, that is true, but I still want to know why you're here," Drake insisted.
"That's my business, what are you doing here?"
"I'm here on a recon mission and you are the enemy," Drake replied.
"Well then arrest me if I'm your enemy," she teased.
Drake couldn't hold his thoughts very well since he was for the first time, talking to the enemy but he had to confess. "I...I can't do it."
"Huh? Your not exactly doing your job then are you?"
"What's that got to do with anything...I just feel sorry for you," Drake said.
"Sorry, why?"
"Because you were no match for me and I took you down so easily," Drake explained feeling his face blush with embarrassment.
I can't believe this is happening, she is so cute Drake thought.
The young woman blushed but got a little angry as well. "That's because I have barely any weapons!"
Drake saw Jeff coming in fast and he tried to make the conversation stop at that moment. "Look just go now. My friend is catching up and he's not as friendly as me,"
He said quickly and silently so she could hear.
She looked puzzled but nodded and closed her hatch, getting her gear up and dashing off but Drake sent a message to her.
"By the way what's your name?"
"Mine? It's Jennifer, sorry but I've got to go. See you later," she replied and went into the distance.
Jeff came rolling in just in time since he was too far to have listened in on their strange conversation.
"I guess you missed it, damn, the Major would have been pleased if we'd gotten a southern spy!" Jeff exclaimed but Drake showed no agreement.
"I'm sure he would, now lets return to our mission and survey the area for anything," Drake insisted and together they left the area.
Four days had passed and Drake couldn't stop thinking about the young Jennifer and how he would have loved to see her fight in her gear. But as much as he wanted to see her again he had not mentioned anything about her. Ever since that night Jeff had boasted about the spy and the regiment were becoming very keen in the idea of catching this enemy, it even came across Major Johnson's mind at some point.
Drake had been over keen about spending night and day shifts in that sector and always preferred to be alone but none of the regiment suspected anything, they just thought he needed time to train by himself and Major Johnson had no complaints.
He had not seen Jennifer since and was growing very nervous because he kept getting images of her being caught but he knew she was too smart for that.
On the sixth day, he was excited when she came dashing past him but he was unsure if she noticed him. She was now equipped with weapons, a shoulder mounted rocket pod, an autocannon and an anti-gear missile launcher.
"Hey Northerner, impressed now that I've got weapons," she said.
"Very impressed. I've been waiting for you alone for days," Drake answered.
"Really thanks. I'm surprised you didn't take me down when you had the chance and why are you so different to most Northerners who would just hate me?"
"My Honour forbids me to attack a weak opponent, and I don't hate the South despite our differences I only like challenges and I want to test your skills," Drake stated.
"You've been waiting six days for a fight, well what can I say, I'm flattered," she giggled and drew out a sword of her own.
"Let's begin," Drake said grimly.
Drake drew his own sword and they began to circle each other, watching for weak spots on each other's gears. Drake threw the first blow but was countered by Jennifer's sword as it hit with a thunderous effect. They each attacked each other with their swords and Drake was realising that he wasn't the only close-hand expert around these parts. She was exceptionally good, noting all his attacks and blocking them with her sword and then striking just in time for him to block the attack. He took it another step and ducked and came pounding into her torso when her guard was down.
They both fell to the ground, sprawling and then recovering. They both realised they had been fighting for a long time.
"I can't believe we were fighting for so long," Jennifer said, surprised.
"You know you're a very good close-hand expert, where did you learn it?"
"Thanks you're not to bad yourself. My father taught me," she explained.
She opened her hatch and showed herself again, getting out of the gear and looked at the Drake's gear suspiciously.
"Don't look at me like that," she said and he thought she had x-ray vision but then realised that his omnicamera was look in her direction.
Drake opened his own hatch and stepped outside, feeling the dirt crunch on his army boots. He saw her take of her helmet and then try and tie her hair back up with a blue hair band since it had gotten out of place.
She saw him step out and faced him, but he tried not to gawk at her body even though she was slender and turned his head. She found him interesting for a Northerner and she thought he was a bit handsome.
"So what's your name? Or do I just call you Northerner," she demanded, looking him in the face. Her eyes were very pretty and he couldn't stop looking at them until he gulped and finally recovered.
"Lieutenant Drake Alexander Wallis the third, 25^th Regiment Fire Cats," Drake stated, introducing himself.
"I'll just call you Wallis," she said simply turning just in time to witness the sunset.
A mix of vibrant colours flourished the sky all generated from the golden circle that steadily fell. Drake and Jennifer both were thinking that the scene was wonderful and then his eyes returned to her.
What do I say to her, I've never been in this kind of situation before, he thought but was trying to grasp an idea in his head. He was a strong person and his pride guided to what his heart wanted.
"Urgh...Jennifer I want to tell you something," he said softly and she turned around to meet his worried face.
"What is it?" She whispered walking up to him.
"..."
"What you can tell me, if its about that spy mission, I can't tell you its..."
"I love you."
"...restricted information...what?"
Drake blushed madly and turned his head to hide his shame in saying it.
Without really thinking she hugged him tight and they stood there for a short time.
An hour past as they both sat on a cliff overlooking the desert but Drake was interested in something else. Breaking away from a kiss Jennifer managed to regain herself.
"If we leave as you suggest where would we go, what would we do for a living?" she wondered looking into his eyes.
"Umm...haven't thought that one out yet, perhaps Major Johnson could help me on that one," he joked.
"I'm serious," she said after giggling.
"Sorry your majesty. We could live out in the badlands, have a family, as for living what are you supposing?" he said suspiciously.
"...Well since you and I are pretty good at piloting gears I was thinking we could join the Heavy Gear Tournaments which have been taking place for years. Think of the excitement, the crowd and feeling of being a contestant. Winning is not everything but it would be the best thing in my whole life...that is what I thought until we started loving each other," she explained her eyes filled with excitement.
"The Heavy Gear Tournaments sounds interesting enough, but what about my military career, my honour and my parents would definitely not approve they think those tournaments are circuses!" Drake said thinking over the consequences.
"Why does it always revolve around duty, you have freedom to do what you like Wallis," she begged and folded her arms.
"I never thought I had freedom, but I want to make a oath Jennifer. I promise to you that I will leave the military and join you and together we will become Ace Gear Pilots," Drake suggested holding her hand and knowing that his heart was now under its spell to keep that oath.
"You promise to do that for me?" the young woman asked looking over at him.
"Yes with all my heart I'll do it for you, but it seems more like a dream than anything else to accomplish," he replied sitting by the young woman on top of a cliff looking out at the sunset beginning to die away.
"Oh, how so?" the woman asked and laid her hand on his shoulder.
"It's...complicated. I've got my honour, and my parents and my military duty but on the other I have you and a dream," he explained holding out his hands as if trying to explain to her what he meant.
She leant next to him and kissed him softly on his cheek.
"Don't worry, life is hard sometimes but a person has to fight for a dream and nothing can stop him or her from accomplishing it if they fight hard and logically," she whispered in his ear.
They watched the sun flitter against the clouds as the sun broke out of its setting and moved ever slowly down the horizon, causing the night sky to appear almost suddenly. For the first time in his life he had never seen a clear night as this, the stars burned brighter than ever as if trying to say something to him.
"And what if I can't reach that dream, that everything is against me," Drake wondered.
"Then do your best, strike where they have thought you are weak and crush their pride as much as they have yours," Jennifer replied, reciting a quote taken by a famous Earth star ship captain facing against all odds and winning with his life intact.
"Treat your enemy as you would treat them and respect their pride as much as your own," Drake said.
"Where'd that come from?" Jennifer wondered.
"I made it up, it's supposed to represent our differences," Drake answered.
"Hey let me think of a quote...hmm can't think of one," Jennifer said and they both broke out laughing.
"Only through absolute uniformity of purpose can victory be achieved. Heroism on the battlefield is as dangerous as cowardice," Jennifer mumbled before slipping into sleep on his chest.
He stayed up a while thinking that last quote over and over in his head as if it meant something. It penetrated deep into his mind and heart but he couldn't work out what it meant to him.
Victory is balanced between an open-minded group who have good leadership, loyalty, used for their different talents, respect, fair combat and perfect teamwork. It will not give you ultimate chances of winning a battle but it will put the odds in favour of winning the war, Drake thought before resting into a sleep.
"So this is where you were hiding, Tssk Tssk," said a familiar voice and Drake jumped to his feet immediately.
His fear increased when he saw Jeff standing in front of him, his gear a few meters away. He could not believe that he was now in great trouble and thought of an excuse to make but nothing came to mind.
So much for open minded, said a voice in his mind.
"I...Hi Jeff, what's happening back at base? Doesn't the Major need a hand or two," Drake said lamely.
"Hahaha, I'm sure the Major will be quite pleased when he hears about you sleeping with a Southerner," Jeff teased.
"No you wouldn't...please don't!" Drake protested looking more frightened in his life then ever.
"Weeeell, since you and the young lady get along so well, I've decided I won't go and tell the Major and end your military career, get flogged by your parents and get publicly announced in the Northern states as a traitor sooo..." Jeff teased. He was enjoying this very much and wanted to take advantage of this opportunity. Drake could only gulp and stare at what he was going to say.
Oh god I never thought it would get this bad, Drake thought, felling even more frightened of the possibility.
"As a good caring best friend for four years, who would do anything for the sake of his wishes and would never think of putting my own desires before his, will do everything in his power to safe keep his friend in the case...of blackmailing him," he teased further.
"Blackmail?!"
"Yep, that's right you do something for me otherwise I go and tell mr Major Annoying-butt that his best pal has decided to switch allegiances," he said with a evil grin.
"Your no fun! What is it you want me to do exactly?" Drake wondered and Jeff came up and whispered into his ear and his eyes became less wider than before.
"I see, well that can be arranged but just keep your promise ok?" Drake demanded and Jeff could only nod. Jennifer had woken up from the noise and was just about to attack Jeff when Drake quickly introduced her to his best friend.
"Well now that it's sorted out, we better be heading back to base Wallis," Jeff suggested and walked back to his gear.
Jennifer and Drake faced each other, "Well I guess I'll see you later then Wallis," Jennifer said quietly and kissed him.
"Hey lovebirds! Wake up, we gotta be back before lunch not next millennium. Ummm...guys, you are listening to me aren't you? How long is this kissing going to take...HELLO THIS IS GOD CALLING PLEASE RESPOND?!!!"
The two loving couples jumped in fright at the magnitude of Jeff's voice over his gear's microphone.
"OW! I think I lost my hearing...and I'm a little dizzy too," a tiny voice said inside the gear.
Drake and Jennifer laughed together, "Your friend is strange," smiled Jennifer.
"I know, but he doesn't hate you southerners like most other northerners, he can see our differences clearly as I do but never judges them," Drake explained and they broke off and sat in their own gear cockpits.
"Finally, I'm dying of old age here," Jeff said over the intercom.
"Shut up Jeff," Drake smiled and waved goodbye at Jennifer as she dashed off yet again.
"Let's head back," Drake informed his friend as they both switched to SMS-mode and travelled back to their respected training base.
Two weeks had passed and Drake had seen Jennifer more than twice despite Jeff's grumbling. He had kept a cool and not told a single soul of their relationship and Drake admired him for that. Drake had taken more time learning about strategy and took classes to learn more about this subject, which he liked very much.
He was taking some training as he practiced his shooting on holographic targets and he had been getting better each time but it was a slow process and sometimes very tiring. Immediately after missing a target the entire base was put on full alert and a comical image came in his mind.
I just missed once, nothing to put the base on alert for, he thought grimly.
But when he exited his gear and entered the radar room he knew that it was not a funny situation and that it was very serious. Men and women took positions on all sides of the room, stationed at different consoles and screens, all sensors, electronic communications and radar. He found Major Johnson near the main screen.
"Sir, what is the situation?" Drake asked after saluting his superior officer.
"Lieutenant, The scanners have picked up a single gear, it's a spy most likely. I'm sending Lieutenant Jeff Moryson to investigate and destroy it since he is the closest unit," Major Johnson explained.
Fear flooded Drake's mind and heart at the thought of losing Jennifer and at the point where he couldn't help her at all.
"Sir, we've reached Lieutenant Jeff Moryson, but there is a problem," said a communications officer.
"What is it?" asked the Major who seemed a bit agitated.
"Sir, he refuses to co-operate, he says he will not engage the enemy," the communications officer answered felling the Major's anger grow.
Drake took the time to leave the room before the Major could unleash his anger on Jeff. He was very relieved but guilt flooded his heart since it was Jeff who realised how close Jennifer and Drake were and would not harm her even if ordered to.
He waited patiently all day in his cabin, playing a few card games with his team mates and then saw Jeff come trolling in from the entrance but when he got out he looked o upset, tears were forming in his eyes and he never looked up as he got out and walked slowly into Major Johnson's office.
He waited possibly another twenty minutes but he couldn't hear a word from the Major's office but the door burst open and a bloody Jeff was dragged out of the office by two huge guards taking him to a cell for containment. Since he wasn't there to hear anything he still had a pretty good idea of what happened during the conversation between Jeff and the Major.
He slept unceasingly during the night and when he was woken by an officer who insisted that everyone in the regiment be inside their gears for a patrol mission as a whole group. Drake didn't see the logic in that but he followed orders, taking a quick shower and dressing in his military uniform as always he ran outside and jumped into his cockpit. He then joined all the other twenty Gears lining up in front of two other Gears. One was a security gear and the other; a Jaguar Gear was Major Johnson.
"Listen up Fire Cats, we've detected three more spies and have identified them as bandits, there are possibly more around but they should be no threat against us. So prepare yourself for real combat and follow my lead, take a tight formation," Major Johnson announced.
"Yes sir!"
"Then let's move out!" The Major called and every gear turned to SMS-Mode and rolled out of the base, keeping a diamond formation as they ventured through the desert.
Drake knew that Jeff was contained for the moment and wished he were here by his side so that he could fight along side him. Drake's body was filled with adrenaline since he would be getting a challenge he wished he had left aside.
"We're gonna kick those bandits back where they came from!"
"Yeah we'll see how many targets you and I get," said some of the younger pilots.
"Hey don't forget me, I'm in this too!"
"What about you, you're not betting."
One of the pilots nudged the cocky pilot.
"Keep your eyes on the road this is not a exercise, this is a real combat situation you could get killed if you don't pay attention!"
"I suppose your right Yui, but do you wanna bet?"
"I hope you die first," Yui sneered and rolled back until he caught up with Drake.
"Having troubles Yui?" Drake said, unconcerned.
"I hate new pilots, they always think they will just fly through life without a scratch. After this battle they'll see that gear combat is not just fun and games," Yui complained and Drake was forced to agree with him on some points.
"We are nearly at the spot," Drake informed him and he saw Yui prepare for battle, pressing his gun as close to his torso as possible.
Suddenly a blast of light appeared ahead and then continued by weapons fire and the whole Regiment froze and checked their sensors. For some odd reason they just appeared on radar, which meant there was some kind of stealth generator nearby.
There were much more gears than expected and Drake knew it could get very dangerous at this rate.
`They're surrounding us!" Yui cried in shock and spun around and was immediately thrown into a close-hand combat with a bandit. Each bandit had either a Jäger or Hunter, a strange mix of north and south war machines in a mysterious army.
"What do we do? I'm so scarred!" cried a young pilot and Drake actually fell sorry for him but other things were on his mind at the time.
According to Drake's radar there were forty of the bandits and twenty of the Fire Cats. A good strategist would see that the battle would be lost easily if something didn't happen fast.
"Fire Cats stand your ground and destroy them at any cost!" Major Johnson yelled through the intercom.
Some of the regiment gave weak replies but most were scarred stiff but Drake had to try and find a way out. He wasn't going to die here just because a Major told him to stay put.
"Wallis, can you hear me?" called a familiar voice over a private transmission.
Drake nearly jumped out of his skin at the voice of Jennifer on the intercom.
"I hear you loud and clear, why did you alert our base?" Drake demanded.
"I didn't that was a bandit acting as a lure. I tried my best to contact you before, I'm afraid your Regiment is caught in a trap," Jennifer explained and Drake's eyes widened.
"I need you to lure as many as you can to my locations, I've set a nasty trap for them. I will cover you as you come towards me," Jennifer told him and then her transmission ended without him replying. His scanners suddenly picked up her gear since she must have shut down her stealth system.
In a rapid outburst, the bandits came from both sides all that was heard and felt was the thunder from gunfire, the smashing of missiles and the occasional clang of someone fighting fist to fist. It was a real battle and Drake was shot at by a missile causing him to hit the ground and then spotted his opponent a Hunter gear armed to the teeth. Everybody was converged in a brutal battle as debris ricocheted and hit a bandit in the omnicamera making him pretty much blind.
Drake suffered minimal damage from the missile and stood firing his auto cannon in an arc to match the enemy's reaction. He reacted just like Drake thought, dodging it and turning to catch a blow to a weak spot but Drake was on full guard and his missile caught the gear in the legs, blowing them sky high from the torso.
Felling something not right he sidestepped and amazed he had reacted so quickly two missiles barely scrapped his head and shot off somewhere else. If those missiles had hit him in a critical spot his gear would have been taken down.
Spinning around, Drake saw his attacker and charged at him, hiding most of himself in the crowd of the battle and out of nowhere he struck the black gear in its arm actuator, tearing it off with his sword. Before the gear could swing around and defend itself, Drake spun the sword fast and then sliced into a leg causing the enemy Gear to fall to the ground and shutdown since its V-engine had been damaged.
He was standing on a dune edge and saw the battle escalating but a large section of the bandits caught his eye and they moved towards him, very quickly.
"Time to move!" Drake yelped and moved fast to lure them to the trap.
One of the bandit Gears was in his way and he didn't think but targeted him and fired two missiles directly into its torso at point blank range before it could move and it flew backwards and crashed on the dirt way ahead and from its immobile state he knew that Gear was no longer a threat.
Drake could count about nineteen Gears heading in his direction, like a massive stampede after him. He was not impressed with what he had to do.
He continued through the desert until a Gear up ahead started firing at the Gears behind him and he met up with Jennifer who was covering him. There were six other Gears all in the same Regiment as her and she was their duellist and accepted Drake because he was a friend of her. There was no conversation transmitted because there was very little time to do anything but fire back at the converging Bandit gears.
"Let's do it!" Jennifer cried through the intercom and the other Southern Gears changed to another weapon. Grenade Launchers.
"Fire!" she ordered and in one mighty flash of light and smoke they each fired a grenade into the air watching as it rained down on the enemy Gears. Wallis decided to help and fired his remaining missiles but most were very weak and had little effect, but he did damage two of the Gears and the huge explosions that followed showed that the grenades had destroyed three more Gears.
But more Gears came and spread out, and a second attack would be useless since they learned from their mistake. The Six Southern Gears spread out and changed back to autocannons and Jennifer fired a anti-gear missile which blew off a Gear's head but the pilot inside would be alive until a friend of his rolled over him by accident.
Drake was not pleased in the scene and he still held his sword in one hand and rolled to the farthest Southern Gear and further still until he could flank them. He felt his anger deepen his thoughts as he came charging from the side of a enemy Gear knocking it over and then brought the sword down on its engine which caused the Gear to blow up but Wallis was not near the explosion since he was attacking a more suitable Gear pilot who actually knew how to fight close-combat.
This guy is a superb swordsman, but I'm always better, thought Wallis smugly.
Wallis brought his sword in unison with the enemy's blocks but Wallis got the upper hand and barely scratched the gear's torso but it was a blow either way. The enemy's sword came down a second time and actually hit his gear's left arm, punctuating it and twisting it as if Drake was supposed to feel pain and he had also lost control of it.
Suddenly Wallis realised that the enemy was trying to get his sword out and now was a perfect time to catch him off guard. Twisting his right arm he brought the sword towards the enemy's middle torso and tore slowly through, feeling the amount of strength required to break to the other side. In a snap he got the sword all the way across and then smiled evilly as the enemy's omnicamera staring at him. With all his available strength he used the Grizzly's strength to twist the sword sideways and break it in two.
Pulling the sword freely from its broken torso he watched the top half fall down followed by its legs. He had always wanted to do that but was never given the chance to do so and felt good about doing it now. He faced the smaller battle where he could already see three smoking Southern Gears lying on the ground, they're insides exploded revealing only red blood.
It was a awful sight and Drake looked away and came across a enemy Gear lying on the dirt, half melted and destroyed with a body handing from under hatch which had fallen on him when he tried to get out. Real combat was always a bad sight to look at when someone had been killed.
"Jennifer!" Drake called and he sprinted towards the nearest fighting area.
He found five enemy Gears standing circling and giggling like Hyenas as they watched their prey trying to figure out what to do with it. Drake was beyond exhaustion already and his adrenaline was overclouding his judgement but he thrust his sword into a Gear and then moved to the next Gear but was hit by a missile and sent sprawling onto the dirt.
Drake looked around and saw two other gears, all-burning from the inside as sparks flashed from joints and lay still against the earth. Their torso's looked like a monster had ripped off all the metal to reach the pilot inside and the arms were so mutilated it was barely even recognisable due to the amount of debris encased on its surface.
He looked around more, feeling his heart pounding against his chest and he was flooded with fear and exhaustion but still he looked around. There was barely enough light to see the enemy Gears standing over him, laughing as they pointed to a single black object.
When he looked harder at the object he saw the rugged shape, the thick armoured legs and arms that were always shiny and gold was scratched and charred from battle. The recognisable head was nearly shredded with the omnicamera completely blasted off and the ear like devices bent beyond recovery. The anti-gear missile launcher had been torn off, forgotten on the ground.
A small fire flickered nearby and caught the long sharp spear bursting from the torso, sticking exactly vertical in the firelight. Three massive Battle-axes struck right into the left and right arm and finally below the spear.
It was the remains of Jennifer's Gear.
"NO!" cried Drake as he stumbled upwards and ran to the crippled Gold Mamba, eying every piece of damage it had suffered over the past hour.
With the Gear's functioning hand Drake pulled the Axe from the torso and threw it aside and then pulled the spear from the breached torso and as he brought the spear finally out he saw the dark red blood all over its tip.
He ripped the torso off with little effort since there was barely anything holding it together and saw Jennifer in her pilot chair gazing back at her lover. Drake could only give a shriek of horror seeing her body in the condition it was.
Blood spilled from her mouth and stomach, drenching her clothes. She was dying from the loss of so much blood and she would be dead soon.
"You...you came back for me," she gurgled.
"Yyyes, You should have called for me I would have protected you," Drake gasped.
"I know, at least I'll die a warrior then nothing at all...and if you are wondering what you could possibly do to make me happy is pursue your promise to me, have some time in the military and then become your dream and don't tell anyone about me...it could affect your life deeply..." Jennifer said and coughed horribly until she was silent and dead, her eyes closed to the world.
"I will make that promise I swear," Drake said, crying his heart out for a long time but then his anger overtook him and he spun his gear around and found that the laughing Gears had disappeared as if they were ghosts.
Drake felt his spine tingle at the thought of ghosts especially after surviving a battle like this but he hated seeing an invisible enemy at any cost.
"Where are you!" Drake yelled into the night but there was no reply.
Drake stood watching the stars for a couple of minutes when his damaged scanners detected two Gears heading his. Both were northern Gears.
They stopped when they saw the carnage and then saw the standing Gear but instead of greeting him warmly they both stuck out their auto cannons towards him and this time Drake really thought he was going to die.
"You Traitor! You deserted your Regiment to help those filthy Southerners I out to shoot you here and now but I'm taking you back for court martial," Major Johnson snapped.
"Don't I even get a medal for saving your butt, I practically led half their forces away from you," Drake replied a little annoyed at the Major's attitude.
"You violated our trusted Northern tradition!"
"Give me a break Major, you're the fool who got us trapped," Drake insulted him and the Major lost his nerve and pushed his Gear so hard that it fell over landing some debris but causing no damage.
The Major brought his auto cannon around and aimed at his Gear but then a huge explosion occurred behind him and the shock wave nearly swept him off his feet.
"Hey Wallis need a hand!"
"Jeff! How did you get here?" Drake demanded.
"I escaped and I've come to help you," he answered and from the distance a Jaguar Gear appeared slowly carrying a massive Snub cannon.
Drake looked at the Major's companion, who was merely little scraps of metal lying where it once stood. He had fired his snub cannon and missiles causing the gear to explode.
"How did you get here!" The Major snarled and Drake could almost feel the anger radiating off him.
The Major charged at Jeff but he stood completely still and Jeff gave a small transmission to his friend.
"Goodbye friend," was all he said and he could make our a few sobs as Jeff spoke and then he realised what Jeff was going to do but was powerless to stop him. Jeff had cut his communications off and braced for a collision course.
The Major did not stop but in seconds of impact he saw Jeff fire every weapon in disposal and then held a bomb in his hand and pressed its ignition button.
In a blazing golden flash the Major, Jeff and the land around them became nothing more than a huge crater about 20 meters in depth. The shockwave caused Drake's gear to shift weight and fly about a few meters before slamming in the ground.
Drake's eyes were filled with tears but his exhaustion flooded him as he fell into a restless sleep, dreaming of being with Jennifer and Jeff in a cloud city of wonders.
When Drake woke up in the middle of a graveyard he quietly said his goodbyes to both his friends and buried both of them before he left the area.
On his way he came across four survivors from the Fire Cats, Yui was one survivor and the three young pilots who had gotten more than they had expected. Anger, Death, Horror all those emotions so alien to them and yet they managed to survive.
Yui had told Drake about their battle and how in a blink of an eye they disappeared as if they were ghosts.
Drake on the other hand did not mention Jennifer's as she had asked and had told about Jeff's sacrifice killing the Major in the process. Yui took it easy but the young pilots did not. They were all friends with Jeff at some point or another and Drake said that his honour had been shown through his sacrifice for a friend.
The five Gears left their battlefields and returned back to the training base where the Northern Officials were given all the details of the battle except Drake didn't mention the support of the Southerners since that might get them a bit ticked off if said in the wrong way. For his bravery Wallis was given a medal of honour and was promoted to Captain.
As the years passed on, Drake Alexander Wallis the third became a Major, had developed much military knowledge but not enough and was officially recognised by Colonel Rika who gave him a position in the Heavy Gear Tournaments. He had kept his promise but as he matured he become less skilled as he had once been and after gaining nine years as Heavy Gear Champion he was eventually beaten by Marcus Steven Rover a badlander kid who just happened to be slightly more skilled and open minded and followed the tournament combat fairly.
However Major Wallis had begun to lose a piece of honour as soon as he had won the second year as Champion and he became very cocky and his judgement was sometimes clouded but this was already occurring before Marcus came along and since he had tasted defeat so many times at the hand of the dragons, his pride was beginning to break away faster and he could only see that something was breaking in his mind and hart but he was unsure of what that was until he really thought about Jennifer after a long time.
"And have you heard a word I said son?" his father asked, eying him suspiciously.
"Yes every word," Wallis lied.
"Good then your mother and I have come to a agreement that we will support you in every way we can, even though I don't like the tournaments and please show some honour in your tactics, winning isn't everything and cheating only makes it worse," his father suggested.
Jennifer used to say winning isn't everything, perhaps over all my years in military I have forgotten what it was like to understood what she meant then and how she had said it to represent the future. Perhaps it's time I changed, well just a little bit, he thought considering his options.
"Thankyou for supporting me father but I've got to go now, got a tournament tomorrow," Wallis insisted.
"But you said you'd stay for a week," his father reminded him.
"Did I? Sorry but gotta run and kick dragon butt...Bye!" Wallis gasped, hugged his father quickly and left in a hurry
He ran across the garden in a mad spree, dodging gardeners and mad sprinkling systems on the way and climbing into his cockpit and saying goodbye to his mother who look as confused as his father. He took his gear down to the landing pad where he saw the Orca officer who also gave a puzzled look.
"Sir your back already?"
"Yeah, boy that week travelled fast huh? Now please take off now!" Major Wallis insisted and stepped into the craft. The officer thought the Major had gone nuts but told his pilots to take off immediately.
The Orca took off immediately and Major Wallis just hoped he wasn't too late to try something nasty to his team, especially since he was...a little changed.
"Well I'm still going to keep that promise," Wallis said into the air.
"Major, your back already? You said you'd be taking the week off," Rank exclaimed as he sat on a table with Serge.
Serge just grinned as Rank slipped him a couple of notes, "Alright you win the bet, he came back quicker than I thought."
"That's correct Rank nice of you to notice," Major Wallis smirked and the rest of the Vanguard walked into the room and greeted him and then shut up and let their leader speak.
"Vanguard. During my time with my parents I've had a look at my performances lately. It seems that we need to make some changes to improve our chances of winning tournaments," Major Wallis began.
Yoji and Groonz revealed a board showing their plans of putting bombs on different field obstacles and Major Wallis just shook his head.
"And I don't mean by cheating," Major Wallis finished.
Rank gulped loudly and looked worried at what he thought Wallis was going to say.
"Starting from now you will all be required to train at different intervals of the day. We will all be required for fitness training. Rank you will practice your melee weapon skills, Yoji you will take targeting practice and speed races, Serge you need to practice those sniping abilities and Groonz you need to know how to use your Gear properly instead of using explosives all the time. We will also concentrate on teamwork and develop our talents and abilities and you will all get used to strategies that you will have to memorize in your sleep if needed," Major Wallis explained his grand idea of keeping the Vanguard in top performance.
"But Major I'm too exhausted to train!" Rank complained.
"Rank you most of all will be involved in enough fitness training to stop you from thinking of food," Major Wallis assured him.
Rank looks down at the floor, grumbling "So much for sneaking out during the week and going to the Movies."
The Vanguard looked at the leader, open mouthed at what he just said. No cheating was something they would have to get used to in due time and training.
"Dismissed I will see you all ready for training in one hour," Major Wallis intended and walked down the corridor towards his quarters leaving the Vanguard even more surprised.
Major Wallis walked down the silent corridors, the only sounds were the echoing of his footsteps but a quote raced around his head, almost familiar but he could recognise who had said it.
Only through absolute uniformity of purpose can victory be achieved. Heroism on the battlefield is as dangerous as cowardice.
Victory is balanced between an open-minded group who have good leadership, loyalty, used for their different talents, respect, fair combat and perfect teamwork. It will not give you ultimate chances of winning a battle but it will put the odds in favour of winning the war
They raced around his mind but couldn't figure out who said them and then in an instant he remembered and smiled.
"See Jennifer I still keep my promise to this day," Wallis said to nothing at all.
As Wallis continued to walk alone through the corridor he was not aware of the figure watching him.
Jennifer appeared for only a second and smiled as she watched him remember and then vanished, knowing that her being was still unfinished leaving the corridors dark and cold as Major Wallis's heart had once been but now reborn with hope.